There's a nice fire over there in the fireplace. Isn't that what you want, a roaring fire on the last day of July?
I drove the Great Basin Highway today. I'd never been in Idaho before, and now I've crossed over into Wyoming.
The West is absorbing me, it seems, as I started lingering on the XM radio channel called America, where I felt utterly charmed by Willie Nelson singing "Don't Fence Me In" followed by Johnny Cash singing (talking) "Ragged Old Flag," a song I'm sure I and everyone I knew mocked when it came out. Further on down the road, I was on the channel Frank's Place, and I laughed at Frank Sinatra singing "Gentle on My Mind" -- because who can picture Sinatra in a sleeping bag or in a train yard or with his "beard a roughning coal pile" or with a "dirty hat pulled low across my face" and his hands cupped around a tin can full of soup? In the thin drizzle, the brilliant talk-singing of Fred Astaire made a lot more sense -- "Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain?" -- and it moved me to tears.
UPDATE: There's a 3-year-old boy here with his parents, and the guitarist goes and sits with him and engages him with "The People on the Bus." The boy is laughing with delight.
July 31, 2006
Unwinding.
Here's the lobby of my hotel. Does it look familiar? Have you been here?
There's a nice fire over there in the fireplace. Isn't that what you want, a roaring fire on the last day of July?
I drove the Great Basin Highway today. I'd never been in Idaho before, and now I've crossed over into Wyoming.
The West is absorbing me, it seems, as I started lingering on the XM radio channel called America, where I felt utterly charmed by Willie Nelson singing "Don't Fence Me In" followed by Johnny Cash singing (talking) "Ragged Old Flag," a song I'm sure I and everyone I knew mocked when it came out. Further on down the road, I was on the channel Frank's Place, and I laughed at Frank Sinatra singing "Gentle on My Mind" -- because who can picture Sinatra in a sleeping bag or in a train yard or with his "beard a roughning coal pile" or with a "dirty hat pulled low across my face" and his hands cupped around a tin can full of soup? In the thin drizzle, the brilliant talk-singing of Fred Astaire made a lot more sense -- "Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain?" -- and it moved me to tears.
UPDATE: There's a 3-year-old boy here with his parents, and the guitarist goes and sits with him and engages him with "The People on the Bus." The boy is laughing with delight.
There's a nice fire over there in the fireplace. Isn't that what you want, a roaring fire on the last day of July?
I drove the Great Basin Highway today. I'd never been in Idaho before, and now I've crossed over into Wyoming.
The West is absorbing me, it seems, as I started lingering on the XM radio channel called America, where I felt utterly charmed by Willie Nelson singing "Don't Fence Me In" followed by Johnny Cash singing (talking) "Ragged Old Flag," a song I'm sure I and everyone I knew mocked when it came out. Further on down the road, I was on the channel Frank's Place, and I laughed at Frank Sinatra singing "Gentle on My Mind" -- because who can picture Sinatra in a sleeping bag or in a train yard or with his "beard a roughning coal pile" or with a "dirty hat pulled low across my face" and his hands cupped around a tin can full of soup? In the thin drizzle, the brilliant talk-singing of Fred Astaire made a lot more sense -- "Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain?" -- and it moved me to tears.
UPDATE: There's a 3-year-old boy here with his parents, and the guitarist goes and sits with him and engages him with "The People on the Bus." The boy is laughing with delight.
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17 comments:
"...it moved me to tears" (and the update)
So you DO have a sweetly soft sentimental side. Who knew?
Shall I email you an mp3 of Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You or would that put you over the swoony edge?
Cole Porter, right, Bruce?
*gasp* the Shining???
just kidding!
Hooray! Fred Astaire!
Fred Astaire was indeed a wonderful singer. Many of the great standards were written expressly for him to sing, including those by Irving Berlin (Cheek to Cheek), George Gershwin (They Cant Take That Away From Me), Jerome Kern (The Way You Look Tonight), Cole Porter (Night and Day) and Johnny Mercer (One for my Baby and One More for the Road). The uninitiated can sample Mr. Astaire's art in brief with an overview of classic 1930's Fred and a surprisingly intimate, stripped down 1950's "cool jazz" Fred (don't miss the most moving performance of Cole Porter's "I Concentrate On You" ever).
Nothing odd in being moved to tears by Fred. He's a gem. I'm not as big a Frank fan as some, but I enjoy a little story from a friend of mine with a five-year-old son. They had a Sinatra album on recently while family was visiting, and at one point the dad reprimanded his son for failing to reply to his cousing speaking to him. Startled from his reverie, he replied he was sorry, but sometimes "music is so good it freezes me". What a great way to describe that sensation.
Elizabeth: Wow. I love that kid! I had a dream last night about a small person who seemed incredibly smart. Then I heard he was 3. I figured he was the biggest genius ever.
Oh Ann, are you our blogging Ginger to Mr. Reynolds' Fred? ;-)
That's a lovely song, made even better by driving in the rain...
Cool place. I'd love to go skiing there some time. It's probably beautiful in the summer.
well if you're in Wyoming, then stay at one of the Lodges in Grand Teton. The Great Lodges in the National Parks are treasures.
http://www.gtlc.com/
It's similar to Grand Timber Lodge but thats in a different state. Looks like a nice place to relax.
Hmm. Four Seasons in Jackson Hole? Presumably you won't tell us until you've already left.
Drill Sgt is right about the national park lodges. Spending a few weeks going from lodge to lodge in the national parks in the West would be a great driving vacation.
Ann, he's a philosophical little rugrat, and his parents aren't shy about sharing "my kid is amazing" stories, but he's no dandelion child (what are those brat kids called again?). His parents discipline him, and he's never an imposition in an adult gathering. That makes him a joy to encounter.
Was this small genius composing a sonata? Eine Kleine Nachtmusik?
Why when you mentioned Astair was I brought back to one of his great lines,
"How could you believe me when I said I loved you when you know I've been a liar all my life?"
Elizabeth: I wish I could remember what the baby genius in my dream was saying!
OK, you are checking out. WRU?
Hi Ann,
Is that the Sun Valley Lodge?
I worked there for around a year when I was just out of College. I haven't seen the place in almost 20 years, so my memory could be lacking.
If it is the lodge, then there would be an outdoor (yes, even in the Summer) ice skating rink in the grassy area just outside of the windows on the right-hand side of the photo.
dbp
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